The growing automotive industry and continuous technological developments have transformed the driving experience completely. Cars in today’s world are equipped with unprecedented numbers and types of advanced gadgets. Be it the GPS system or entertainment systems, everything is going digital and driving the global market for automotive electronic devices. Electronic components in vehicles make up more than 30% of the production cost, and this is expected to rise.

Growing at an expected CAGR of near about 3.1% from 2012 – 2018, the market is estimated to be worth USD 18.5 billion in 2018. The market is primarily driven by factors such as development in product technologies, globally focusing OEM strategies, stringent regulations, and other macro and micro economic factors. The demand in emerging markets such as Asia Pacific and Latin America is expected to be the key contributor to the global market growth in the coming years, with highly dynamic market scenarios. Rise in disposable income, development of infrastructure, and growing urbanization is influencing the demand shift towards vehicles with advanced features and improved safety.

The global automotive electronic devices market, for analysis, can be segmented based on parameters such as technologies and products. Based on the product type, the different electronic devices used in vehicles are: GPS systems, entertainment systems, control devices, and video devices among others. Of all the product types, entertainment systems are the most vivid, and have multiple sub-segments, such as radio/audio devices, satellite radio, dashboard player, TV-DVD players, and so on. A new trend showing up in the market is the integration of multiple systems into one, so that scope for new systems or multiple installations, cost optimization, and design variations is further raised. This is further expected to drive the market growth.

Geographically, North America still holds the largest market share, but is expected to show subdued growth during the forecast period. A similar trend is expected in European regions too, where the euro debt crisis had significant downward effect on the market growth. The automotive industry in the fast emerging markets has been more resilient, and is showing signs of steady growth in the coming few years.The regional shift in growth dynamics have even influenced the market strategies of players in the industry, who are now looking for global expansion with focus on Latin America and in the Asia Pacific region. The market for automotive electronic devices is currently dominated by companies such as Philips, Antex, Delphi Automotive Systems, Sanyo, Denon, Yamaha, Sony, and other regional players.